New York City's Times Square is definitely a sight to see and full of surprises. But it is not every day that consumers can actually interact with a company through a billboard.

From July 6 through August 2, Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC will be hosting an interactive billboard in Times Square that displays requested home listings in real time. The Coldwell Banker billboard is featured above the W Hotel in Times Square.

"Times Square is the crossroads of the world filled with tourists from all over the world," said Michael Fischer, senior vice president of marketing, Coldwell Banker, Parsippany, NJ. "The power of connecting to the great Coldwell Banker brand while visiting Times Square is powerful.

"The message is clear," he said. "We are a brand heavily invested in innovation that welcomes consumers who want to engage with us anytime, anywhere."

Coldwell Banker worked with its interactive marketing agency of record FD Kinesis to develop a proprietary texting program for the billboard in Times Square.

The billboard encourages people to use their mobile phone to text the word HOMES and any ZIP code to short code 30241.

Within moments, the billboard will display the highest-, median- and lowest-priced properties in that area.

Consumers also receive a text from Coldwell Banker directing them to a link with more information.

"Consumers want quick access to online listings and this campaign reinforces how easy it is to find listings and information, anytime, anywhere," Mr. Fischer said.

Coldwell Banker also incorporated elements from its "Portraits" initiative into the campaign, which features portraits of the company's founders, Colbert Coldwell and Benjamin Arthur Banker, who started the company back in 1906.

The founder portraits will offer humorous quips on the Big Apple and modern-day technology, mirroring the commentary they provide in current Coldwell Banker commercials.

The interactive billboard is the most recent undertaking in a series of mobile initiatives Coldwell Banker has debuted.

In September, Coldwell Banker became the first full-service national real estate brand to launch a customized online platform for iPhone users.

To date, the real estate firm has had nearly 200,000 home searches conducted from mobile units.

"Clearly, consumers are tending to want access untethered from their desktops," Mr. Fischer said. "We also were the first to have listings available on GPS units and will continue to look for ways to reach consumers outside traditional means.

"We are huge believers in mobile marketing," he said. "We have several marketing deals with the likes of VSnax that bring our anytime, anywhere message to mobile users.

"In fact, one of our Coldwell Banker commercials this year touts the seamless availability of ColdwellBanker.com on the iPhone."